“Please a show of hands if you are concerned this is the big one – this is the big pandemic to be worried about. Any hands? Good.” (ABC News)Hello, I’m Charlotte Bellis and you’re watching Newsy.com. That was video from ABC.
From closing schools to slaughtering pigs, governments around the world are taking a proactive approach in the fight against Swine Flu.
But have cautionary measures gone too far?
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden is under fire for his comments on the Today Show…
“I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn’t go anywhere in confined places now. It’s not that it’s going to Mexico, it’s that you’re in a confined aircraft where one person sneezes it goes all the way through the aircraft. That’s me.” (Today Show)On NBC, late night talk show host Jay Leno didn’t hesitate to comment on Biden’s remarks…
“Last night during his speech to the nation, President Obama told the American people they should cover their mouths when they cough to prevent the spread of Swine Flu. And today he told Joe Biden to cover his mouth whenever he talks... I don’t think Joe Biden’s going to catch Swine Flu, but it’s pretty obvious he has a case of foot-and-mouth disease.” (NBC)One World Health Organization official tells the BBC Swine Flu is a serious issue, but it’s not the worst strain of the virus the world has seen.
“Clearly we are on track for a pandemic in the coming months. The good news is that we were all worried about so-called bird flu H5N1 which was a much more dangerous virus. Here, we are not in the same ballpark.” (BBC)After Egypt ordered the slaughter of its pig population – 300,000 animals, Time magazine says…
“Don’t blame the pig… If pigs are to blame, so too are birds and humans. The problem begins with the wily nature of the influenza virus itself.” (TIME)CNN reports,
“America’s top agriculture official says he still eats pork and you should also…”
“It is perfectly safe to have a pork chop tonight. And we want to make sure we say that to our consumers here at home and also to our trading partners all across the world.” (CNN)Finally we go back to ABC for advice from Dr. Julie Gerbeding, former head of the U.S. Center for Disease Control…
“If we knew the susceptibility, the spread and the severity, we could look into a crystal ball and at least make some predictions about what might happen. But right now we don’t have those information pieces and we’ve just got to err on the side of caution.” (ABC News) Scientists have begun developing a vaccine for H1N1, but say the process could take several months.
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